A Dallas startup has united with the social media giant Facebook to make a statement about supporting caregivers in the workplace.

Dallas-based Cariloop’s CEO Michael Walsh teamed up with Renee Albert, director of benefits for Facebook, and Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul,” series to author a white paper titled, “Taking Care of Caregivers: Why corporate America should support employees who give their hearts and souls to those in need.”

U.S. companies that don’t address employee caregiver needs currently lose between $17.1 billion and $33.6 billion annually on lost productivity.

The paper cited a National Business Group on Health data point that found 88 percent of employers believe caregiving will become an increasingly important workplace issue over the next five years. A 2017 study from Transamerica found caregivers are split 53 percent women and 47 percent men and represent a wide cross-section of age and income demographics.

U.S. companies that don’t address employee caregiver needs currently lose between $17.1 billion and $33.6 billion annually on lost productivity, according to the white paper.

“There is an incredible amount of stress on our nation’s caregivers to navigate the complex world of health care for a loved one and still remain focused and productive at work,” Walsh said in a statement. “For many, caregiving is comparable to holding down a second job, and the lines between their work and personal lives become blurry, at best, when the care of a loved one is top-of-mind. For employers, caregiver support is not simply a good business decision, it’s the right thing to do.”

Cariloop, a Health Wildcatters graduate, has based its business around its Caregiver Support Platform, a HIPAA-compliant cloud-based application, to help families and caregivers manage communications, serve as a central location for health, financial, and legal documents, and provide on-demand access to a dedicated health care coach to aid in making caregiving decisions.

“For employers, caregiver support is not simply a good business decision, it’s the right thing to do.” 

Michael Walsh

The white paper highlights caregiving support benefits at a range of companies from Bank of America and Microsoft to Best Buy and Starbucks. Employee benefit managers from North Texas companies Michaels Companies and Brinker International also were quoted about their programs. 

“At the Michaels Companies, we believe that supporting our team members who are caregivers will enable them to be more engaged and productive at work. Providing expert support and guidance to caregivers helps our team members maintain their own health and well-being as they care for their loved one,” said Sharon K. Brown, director of benefits for Michaels, in the white paper. 

Facebook has policies around bereavement leave, paid family leave, and paid family sick time for its employee caregivers. 

Facebook’s Albert answered the question, “Who is going to become a caregiver?” with a one-word response, “You.” Albert added that caregiving touches almost everyone at some point from childcare to eldercare and that caregiver support is part of Facebook’s corporate DNA.

“Facebook has made taking care of our employees — and the people who matter most to them — a top priority. We aspire to be the best company for families, no matter how you define family,” according to the white paper.

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